Watch This Space...

A Watched Pot...

Kissing cousin to a watched pot?

A watched doorstep.

Do you see anything?

Exactly...

Still waiting on the yarn from Kim that was promised by the post office for a delivery by noon...

--SIGH--

How's that go again?

Through rain, or snow, or dark of night?

Do you see any of those on my doorstep?

Hey! That shawl is buying your kitty kibble!

No respect for the merchandise...

Magic Carpet Ride

Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride...

Hi, my name is Susan and I'm a lace-a-holic.

Now you get to chime in with, "Hi Susan!"

Isn't that how it works?

Maybe I have nothing better to do with my time...

Or maybe I'm a glutton for punishment...

Maybe I need to get a life...

For whatever reason, (pick one; anyone; doesn't really matter which...)

One day after Moroccan Days/Arabian Nights release, a measly little 24 hours later (plus change)

I committed to producing a little sister scarf for her.

Isn't that supposed to take another nine months?

Magic Carpet will utilize many of the same lace patterns as her big sister, but she will be a smaller, more manageable project with a simplified construction technique. Perfect for those not ready to take on a full size shawl.

I will provide an alternative ending border for those who don't wish to use beads and the two sided edging is nowhere to be seen (arguably the toughest part of MD/AN.)

Kim is expressing me some of her Moroccan Spice color lace yarn and beads are on their way from Foxden.

And me? I'm swatching again...

Except for frequent breaks for chocolate...

Are we having fun yet?

For the next three months, pattern will be available only in kits from Woolen Rabbit. My way of thanking Kim for all her support.

Besides, you couldn't find a better choice. If you can't find a color you like on her website (check out the sock yarn. she can dye any of those colors as lace)

Well then, you just aren't looking hard enough!

Since I am modifying an earlier design, lead time will be brief. We anticipate a release next week.

In other good news, a little New Hampshire birdie tells me some kits for MD/AN may go out as early as Friday.

Swatch pics tomorrow...

To steal a line from Tim Gunn, "Carry on..."

Please Release Me, Let Me Go...

"Want to release your potential? Help others release theirs."
-Pat Lynch

Well, the big day has arrived, Moroccan Days/Arabian Nights joins her older sibs on the great sidebar of life (0therwise know as the right hand side of the screen. Go scroll. I'll wait...)

Thank you for all of your encouragement and support of me as I blunder make my way through this hitherto unknown maze of blogging, and on-line community, and html, and hyperlinks, and Ravelry, and Motif Maker, and acronyms, and memes, and virtual shopping carts, and pdfs, and digital downloads, and all those nifty technological things I knew little about before last year at this time.

(And to think it all started with a thermostat! Those who have been with me from the beginning will get the reference. The rest of you will have to play catch up in the dusty electronic archives, or let it go.)

To quote John Dunne, "No man is an island." And no woman is either (Although I might want to be a tributary...)

Many people working together make our little universe run like a finely tuned watch (Ya know, that is a very hackneyed simile. Surely we can do better. What else is smooth?)

Runs like a:

ball rolls down hill?
barfly's pick up lines?
skein of Malabrigo?
lace weight strand of silk?
tax accountant's calculator?

C'mon...play along...help me out here...leave me a comment...

Anyway, the point is this: I would be mute without someone to read my words. I would be an exercise in futility. I would be the proverbial "tree in the forest," with no one to hear me fall.

So thank you for reading. I would be lost without you.

I also wouldn't be designing without the help and encouragement of two very special ladies: Chris Roosien of Briar Rose Fibers, who helped my firstborn find her legs, and Kim Kaslow of Woolen Rabbit, who commissioned Moroccan Days/Arabian Nights.

Today of all days, I want to tell you a little bit about Kim.

Kim's talent for dying drew me to her website long before I dreamed of designing anything. Her colors are subtle, shifting effortlessly through the spectrum of light. The yarns glow from the inside out...

Just like Kim does.

I came for the yarn I wanted to investigate; I stayed for the person I have come to know.

One of my readers asked me which came first, the yarn or the design? For me, it is the yarn that comes first. Everything that MD/AN is and can be, began with Kim's gorgeous yarn. Her potential helped me release mine.

You will notice a link to Woolen Rabbit in that sidebar I just told you about. Her kits for the stole are absolutely gorgeous and a very good value at just $55. Go visit her and check out the goods. I promise you will NEVER regret it.

You just couldn't meet a nicer person, or a more talented artisan. I am blessed to not only work with her...

but to call her, "friend."

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Quorum

"A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative body necessary to conduct the business of that group. Ordinarily, this is a majority of the people expected to be there, although many bodies may have a lower or higher quorum."
-from Wikipedia

I have a confession. I have used Ravelry as a marketing tool.

Oh, the shame...

In my previous life, I was the Executive Director of an Indianapolis Arts group. (revelation by typo: Indianapolis Arts Grope. Now that is a wholly different type of organization!)

Anyway, one of the things I learned from working in the non-profit sector is:

You can't promote anything, be it a cause, a product, or an ensemble, unless they first know who you are.

So I went shopping for friends. (I really don't like that imagery; lets see if I can do better.)

I spent my weekend going out on a lot of blind dates.

Now some of you may consider that self-serving and off-putting, but a funny thing happened on the way.

I began reading the profiles, noting the ravatars, clicking on the website connections, sending private messages, adding to my friends list.

I started out eating spam (sorry, but let's call an ugly hoptoad by its true name) and I would up with something far more nourishing than I could ever have imagined. And somewhere along the line, it ceased being about me at all and became all about ...

YOU!

I am in love with all of you. (Does this mean I have to move to Utah?)

I wondered before I began surfing the site for members of the same groups I was in, if this was kosher. Or if it was a heinous misuse of modern technology. I worried that, by inviting total strangers to join the KAL, I was selling my soul to the retail devil. I felt dirty, somehow, like I was using people. I fretted over the immodesty and worried that people would feel obligated.

But the most wonderful blossoming has happened instead. People were happy to be invited. They wanted to join.

I have said "thank you" and "bless you" in Swedish, French, German, and Japanese. I have found fellow opera singers, and fellow designers, and fellow writers, and fellow lace lovers. I have seen so many funny and wonderful ravatars that I want to know the story behind each one. I have read your profiles. I have viewed your FOs.

And I want to get to know all of you. ALL - OF - YOU... (my Christmas card list is going to be a b***h next year)

We are a deliberative body. We hash out the issues of the day (if you don't believe me, check out the Big Issues Debate group.) At any given time, we can be expected to be on line and on fire with enthusiasm, or the compunction to help someone.

Our business is the furthering of our craft, the feathering of our nests and those of the people we love with beautiful soft warm things, the support of those who most need us, and the everyday weaving together of the web that connects us all. To steal a line from the ghost of Christmas Present, "Mankind is our business."

The knitting community is such a powerful force for connection. In these days of increasing isolation brought about by advancing technology, we have found a way to put our hearts where our heads are. In an age when many relationships are falling apart, we have come together in love:

• of our craft
• of our world
• of each other

And that isn't funny at all. It is inspiring.

Saturday Sunday Sky

Now, THAT is a true work of art (the dawn, not the picture, although the picture's no slouch either - thanks Keith!)

Skies and babies are God's best work...

A Mysterious Beauty from the East

"O, thou art fairer than the evening air clad in the beauty of a thousand stars."
-Christopher Marlowe


PATTERN INFORMATION:

Release Date:
Tuesday February
26, 2008

(Kim needed more time to prepare.) This one is firm. No waffling. Bet on it. Sorry for the confusion!

Available here as pdf file download for $8
Kits available at Woolen Rabbit

Size (after blocking): 30in. x 90 in.

Materials: 1800 yds. Woolen Rabbit or other laceweight yarn
(color: Tupelo Honey)
5000 8/0 seed beads
size 3(US) needles

Skill Level: advanced intermediate
(beading, chart reading, two-sided edging)

Thank you so much for all the kind comments. I have been unable to respond to some, but please know that ALL are tucked safely under my pillow at night, bringing me sweet dreams.

Your continuing affection for Moroccan Days both astounds and gratifies me.
Deo Gratias!

$8.00

SKILL LEVEL

Advanced Intermediate (some previous lace experience recommended)

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS (after blocking):

30 inches wide by 90” long

MATERIALS: 2000 yards lace weight yarn

Prototype knit with Woolen Rabbit lace weight

(tupelo honey)

5000 size 8/0 beads

Pictured: Miyuke 8/0 seed beads #8-0005F

(matte silver lined topaz)

size 3 (US) needles

Turn Your Face to the Sun

As MD/AN lies waiting for me to remove all those tiny pins (couldn't face that cold floor this morning - waiting for a warm up that isn't happening as we seem to have lost our sun - SIGH) I read an interesting thread in the KAL group forming on Ravelry, asking what level of expertise is required to knit the stole.

I liked what I wrote in response.

(How often does THAT happen? Usually I think of what I should have said hours later and experience one of those "DOINK! I could've had a V-8" type moments.)

Anyway, I decided my answer deserved a wider audience. So here tis... Feel free to call me an egotistical such and such...won't be the first time...and unfortunately, not the last...

I hesitate to make judgments as to the feasibility of the pattern for knitters of various ability levels. If you have tried lace knitting before and had a dreadful time of it, then you probably won’t enjoy this pattern. (Then again, if you felt that way about lace knitting, you probably wouldn’t be reading this.)

I remember my former brother-in-law Paul, who had never been on a pair of skis in his life. We took a family trip to Colorado some years ago, and by the third day, he was out-skiing all of us (which I found massively annoying, personally speaking - upstart!) Ability to learn is such a subjective thing.

My personal mantra is, “Just because I haven’t, doesn’t mean I can’t.” Those eight little words founded Sunflower Designs. I have found them to be an inspiration, a revelation, and a blueprint for a full life.

But that’s me, not you. I don’t want to discourage anyone from joining up. But I also don’t want to make a sale off of someone else’s frustration and disappointment. I don’t design to make money. I design to bring beauty into the world. I want everyone to have as much fun knitting my designs as I have designing them.

Here at Sunflower Designs, our motto is: Turn your face to the sun. Only you know how much sun you can take before you burn. Don’t be foolish, but don’t be afraid either. Huddled in the shade is no way to live your life…

Now excuse me while I put on my knee pads, bundle up my tootsies, fortify myself with a nice Cabernet and some chocolate, and ruin what is left of my fingernails (and my eyesight) after pinning her out yesterday...

by unpinning her today. Those little half-inch sequin pins are murder.

More snow today, pictures tomorrow, release early next week...

Small Decisions

No matter how tall the mountain is, it cannot block the sun. Tenacity and adversity are old foes.
-Chinese Proverb

Wanna bet?

Although I wouldn't generally characterize myself as a mountain...(I would, however, rather be a tall mountain than a wide one.)

I just spent 2 hours blocking the sun. In all her splendor. Just what you need on a cold, crisp February day. A little invincible summer.

I know from tenacity, after the last week's push to the finish. While cramping fingers and designs that don't behave the way you want them to may be small peanuts, when compared with true adversity, they do require a certain "stick to it"-iveness. (If I can't find the word I want, I'll just make one up. Call Webster's.)


You think you know someone. You've hung out with them for months. You've shared sunny mornings, snowy afternoons, your first holiday season, your truest love on Valentine's Day. She has been with you through arguments with your husband; she has kept you company on lonely nights.

Then she opens up to you and reveals her true beauty. That which you presumed to know, has depths yet to be explored.

She is from the mysterious east after all!

When you look closely, she still has a few secrets to disclose...

This is one of my favorite details, which was difficult to see until now. That little crumpled edging, once outstretched, becomes a series of tiny suns. And each loop is crowned with its own bead.

(Stellar gets all the attention, being an expression of excellence and all. But I think we can make a case for a new paradigm...)

SOLAR!!!

One of the things I have truly enjoyed in the process of designing this stole is the opportunity to craft the finer details. They are hard to capture in pictures, but these intricacies combine to bring the piece into finer focus.

One of the modifications I made on the fly this week, was to merge the diagonal border for the center diamond into the vertical portcullis stitch panel. First I ended the line, then I overlapped it, but in the end, the merging lines seemed the most visually pleasing option.

I twisted the stitches at the beginning of the center diamond to bring it to a sharper point.

And when I couldn't find a vertical lace panel I liked, I modified an all-over stitch, again adding twisted stitches to emphasize the vertical line.

I have reworked the center join, ditching grafting, which everyone dislikes.

At least everyone I've talked to. If grafting is your thing, if you look forward with barely concealed impatience to working that needle back and forth, if fiddling about with 199 stitches is your idea of heaven, by all means, speak up! Me? I'll stick to chocolate...

The thing about grafting is: you wind up with a one stitch offset. And that would put a jog in my vertical lines. Picky, I know, but I just can't help myself.

So, I went back to the drawing board and worked out a nifty little exposed and beaded three needle bind off. And, just like that, a design flaw was transformed to a design asset.

Of such small decisions is a design made.

And that, while admittedly being a source of frustration at times, as we cast about in search of the "perfect" solution, is what makes the whole thing tick.

You know, most of us will never be faced with a really "big" decision on the order of, say...

"Should I drop the bomb on Hiroshima?"

Instead we are faced with a laundry list of work-a-day decisions...

"What shall we have for dinner tonight?"
"Will I make that deadline at work?"
"Can I make it to my next payday on $25?"
"Was that yarn worth my money?"

Small decisions

• that add texture to our lives
• that bring joy to our souls
• that together, add up to a finely crafted work of art.

Invincible Summer

منجز, مكمل, منتهي, متمم, كامل

That's Arabic for "finished."

Will pop her into an overnight bath and then tomorrow she is onto the blocking wires.
Pattern available Friday.
My profound thanks for all of your kind comments and encouragement. They have given me much joy these last few months.


"In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer"
Albert Camus

May you also discover your invincible summer, wherever it may lie.
Blessings!

Forty More Rows

You knit forty rows and what do you get?

Another day closer to release, you bet.

Saint Peter, don't you call me, I'm not your gal;

I owe my soul to the Ravelry KAL...

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

See?

I bet you don't even miss those words...

How Do You Know It's Time for Bed?

HAVE RELOADED PICTURES - SORRY!

I keep my stitch markers in a tooth fairy box. My boys are way too old to need it anymore and it is just the right size. It sits on my table next to my knitting chair and silently waits upon my call, like a well trained servant should.

Last night I burned the midnight oil.

Until it burned me back, in the form of a splitting headache.

I reached for the aspirin bottle.

Have you ever noticed that an aspirin tablet is roughly the same shape and circumference as a medium size stitch marker?

You can see where this train wreck is going, can't you?

Yep, next thing I know, I swallowed a stitch marker.

I took it as a sign. It was time to haul my tired carcass upstairs to bed.

So I got 20 rows into the diamond panel, 92 to go.

And I reached my happy place. You know, that place or time when the last pieces fall into place and go, "CLICK"


And all is right with the world.

Even if you do have a headache and a stitch marker in your stomach.

I considered a trip to the emergency room, but decided the medical types would never understand how this happened. And besides, I had knitting to do!

(I think this takes internalizing your work to a whole new level)

In the original design, the center diamond was separated from the main pattern by two twisted stitches. I changed it up for a traveling stitch, then I decided, if one traveling stitch was good, two would be even better! That way it would mirror the twisted stitches running up the sides of the piece.

(I think it was my inner genius talking, but it could have been my inner stitch marker.)

Last piece? A bead placed in the dip between the two lines.

CLICK!

Just like that. No more dithering. No more modifications.

Happy, happy, happy...

More pics on Sunday. Stay tuned...

Fiddling About

I'm your wicked Auntie Susan (Hello!)
I'm your wicked Auntie Susan (Remember me?)
I'm glad you can't see or hear me (Bugger!)
I'm glad you can't see or hear me (Frack!)
As I fiddle about (Add rows!)
As I fiddle about (Subtract rows!)
Fiddle about! (Knit!)
Fiddle about! (Frog!)
Fiddle about! (Knit!)
Fiddle about! (DRINK!!!!)

Remember those extra 30 rows I needed yesterday?

I didn't need them.

Pattern modifications are inevitable, but sometimes frustrating.

But OH! It's SO much better this way. I will eat the pictures I plan on posting tomorrow if you don't agree with me!

How does one eat digital photos anyway???

(Not that I'll need to)

Now, where is that bottle of Vodka...

A Promise Is a Promise...

Tonight Morocco looks like this:



























Just this morning, she looked like this:

See those two little markers?

Those markers mark the beginning of the end...

The start of the center diamond insert where the beaded Persian lace pattern makes another appearance.

See the chart? More importantly, see the pink post it several rows into the chart?

Cause for celebration..Garcon! Champagne all around!

Well, ok. I'll settle for a second cup of coffee.

Then I decided the dividing boundary between the two sections needed to be more distinctive, so I made a few minor modifications.

Of course, that meant redoing the charts

And adding 30 rows.

Spent the rest of the day getting back to where I started. SIGH!

But I will prevail. She will be finished this weekend.

Considering that last weekend after our disastrous date at knitting group, she looked like this:

I think she's showing marked improvement...

More pics tomorrow when the light is better.